ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) Short Interest Down 34.6% in December

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 143,866 shares, a drop of 34.6% from the December 15th total of 220,050 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 122,657 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 122,657 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hovde Group lowered shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded ChoiceOne Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ChoiceOne Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Price Performance

NASDAQ COFS traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $28.53. The company had a trading volume of 67,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 76,401. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.64. The company has a market capitalization of $428.63 million, a PE ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 0.61. ChoiceOne Financial Services has a 12-month low of $24.89 and a 12-month high of $35.40.

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $44.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.15 million. ChoiceOne Financial Services had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 11.52%. As a group, analysts predict that ChoiceOne Financial Services will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from ChoiceOne Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ChoiceOne Financial Services news, Director Eric E. Burrough acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.50 per share, with a total value of $142,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 174,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,982,740.50. The trade was a 2.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ChoiceOne Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 70.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 324,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,307,000 after purchasing an additional 133,999 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ChoiceOne Financial Services during the second quarter worth approximately $5,973,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 128.1% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 34,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 19,263 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,709,000 after acquiring an additional 4,982 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

About ChoiceOne Financial Services

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Jackson, Michigan. Through its subsidiary, ChoiceOne Bank, it provides a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals, families, and businesses. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in community banking, spanning retail deposits, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, and treasury management solutions.

ChoiceOne Bank offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and online and mobile banking platforms designed to meet the needs of its customers.